If you know how much you need to save, it can be more rewarding to make regular contributions. In addition, you can set benchmarks based on your age to ensure you stay on track for your retirement goal.

You can try online retirement calculators to figure out how much you will likely need for your retirement nest egg. You will need to enter your age, pretax income, current savings, and current monthly contribution. Advance calculators will also factor in your:

• Monthly retirement spending, which is 70 percent of your current pretax income.

• Any expected income, such as pensions and Social Security payments.

• The age you want to retire. You must be at least 67 years of age to get your full retirement benefits. Otherwise, you will get a percentage penalty off future payments.

• Life expectancy.

• Investment rate of return. The conservative average is 6 percent.

The calculator will also consider a 3 percent inflation and a salary increase of 2 percent per year. However, it will not take into consideration big purchases, emergencies, or unforeseen life events.

Most people need around a million dollars at retirement age. However, this number can vary significantly by lifestyle, income, and other factors. For example, state and federal workers receive pensions in retirement. So, they may not need to have as much saved since they will still have an income.

Likewise, some families keep generations together, which helps cut down on housing, childcare, and elderly care costs. You may not need huge retirement savings if you have little to no expenses in retirement.